Going rate for a new build in East Van?

[supafamous]

Wondering if anyone could knows the approx going rate now to build a new home. I'm considering doing a build in the next 2-3 years with my BIL - something like a 4000sf duplex (2000sf each side) and want to get a sense of what the rates are now.

My in-laws were recently quoted $750K for a new SFH plus laneway (2700sf main home and 700sf laneway) so I'm making some assumptions that it's in the range of $200-300/sf.

A good reference house would something like this place: https://www.rew.ca/properties/266376...e-vancouver-bc

[tiger_handheld]

interested. following.

[Hondaracer]

I'd say $200 is on the low end of finishing levels.

A brand new laneway seems to go for around 150-250k on it's own. It's obviously easier and cheaper to build both at the same time however.

I'd say a good reference is to walk around the neighborhood, pull up brand new, or relatively brand new builds you see in E-assesment, and see what they are going for.

IE. id say if your spending 750-900 on a brand new build in east van, the total assesed should be close to 2 after the fact if you build a nice enough home.

but yea, i'd say $200 is on the low side and thats more like builder cost than a customers cost. May result in poor quality, low end finishings, etc.

I'd say for any decent builder you're going to be looking at $240-300/sq ft for finishings that will be the best return on your investment. You can tell right away even from the design of the house what kind of builder built it.

[snowball]

Also interested in your thread. Trying to figure out if I should drop 400k into renovating an old Vancouver special or 600k+ into a brand new build.

I'm assuming a renovation would result in a mid-high quality home and a brand new build would be lower quality for the above prices.

[bcrdukes]

Is this for you and your BIL's family to live in? Or is this purely for investment?

I'd liken the estimate to what Hondaracer said in that it's on the low end of things. And if it really is using the lower end of materials and workmanship, is it something you and your BIL's family are okay with for 5+ years? Or is the idea to build quick, fast, and (lol) cheap, and then sell for a decent profit ratio?

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Is this for you and your BIL's family to live in? Or is this purely for investment?

I'd liken the estimate to what Hondaracer said in that it's on the low end of things. And if it really is using the lower end of materials and workmanship, is it something you and your BIL's family are okay with for 5+ years? Or is the idea to build quick, fast, and (lol) cheap, and then sell for a decent profit ratio?

To live in. I'm less price sensitive than my BIL so have assumed that the quote I got was on the low end of things. Prior to the quote I had figured it'd be in the $200-250/sf range but $250-300/sf is fine with me. Building something for ourselves is ultimately cheaper than buying someone else's work.

[bcrdukes]

Have you gone to the market to entertain proposals from various builders? Or is this a one-off quote from a builder you guys know, or connected with? Do you know why your BIL is more price sensitive than you are?

I ask because a high school friend of mine built their own home and ended up going to only one builder (based on a referral I think) and spending over a million dollars on her build, only to find out that:

1. the build quality was "just okay" (lots of bizarre defects and odd placement of things etc.)
2. They overspent on areas they didn't need to, and skimped on things that would be used very regularly, like kitchen, washrooms, living rooms, garage etc. One of the requirements was to build an office, and they didn't want to spend money on it, only to end up being in the dark, cramped corner of a basement. Worst office. Ever.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by snowball

Also interested in your thread. Trying to figure out if I should drop 400k into renovating an old Vancouver special or 600k+ into a brand new build.

I'm assuming a renovation would result in a mid-high quality home and a brand new build would be lower quality for the above prices.

You also have to keep in mind the limitations of your lot for new builds.

Depending on when the Vancouver special was built you likely won’t be able to build the same total sq footage on the same footprint due to the new regulations etc.

That’s why you see so many “raise ups” or total gut renovations in EV. If I was to tear down my place and rebuild I would lose 25% or more of my interior living space due to the size of my lot.

Came across this beauty the other day:



The issue with Reno’s is that when you do it properly and have to abate asbestos etc little stupid shit like that can add up real quick.

[lowside67]

While people used to throw around $200/SF, in my limited experience I don't think that's reality today unless you are truly building a bargain basement house in Surrey. Before we bought our house, we had a very casual look into building and were getting rough figures in the $250-300/SF range with quality but not over the top finishing.

I'd look carefully at what is included and excluded in your $750k quote. That's $220/SF assuming it was all one structure and a laneway should add a fair bit of expense as it's a second foundation, roof, plumbing, additional permitting, etc.

-Mark

[Bender Unit]

$200/SF is impossible now days
Anyone Contractor quote you $200/SF
There will be tons of hidden cost and you will be way out of budget close to the end scrambling for additional funding.

Because that's what happened to me 1.5 half years ago
$200/sf E. Van.
2700 sf Main House + 600 sf LWH
Majority of contractors are crooks. I did met some good guys from different trades
I Live and Learnt

[bcrdukes]

That fig tree

[tiger_handheld]

for those that are building....

a crappo tear down is around 8-900k? + say another 600K for a build = 1.5M

are you guys doing it for the custom layout/quality or can you actually save money this route?

[TOS'd]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

That fig tree

Free figs since the tree is their neighbours.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Have you gone to the market to entertain proposals from various builders? Or is this a one-off quote from a builder you guys know, or connected with? Do you know why your BIL is more price sensitive than you are?

The one-off is just a house next door to my in-laws that got built and they happened to chat him up.

I'm really early days right now - just constructing a potential budget that I can use to discuss it with my BIL and his wife. Semi-familiar with some builders who I'll get in touch with like Tyko, Lanefab and maybe Wallmark. I imagine the latter two will be over $300/sf based on the work I've seen but that might still work for us depending on what exactly we chose to build and when we do it (the more we wait the more we can afford). Even knowing that a mid-range build is $250-300/sf is helpful for basic planning.

My BIL's price sensitivity is more around lack of education and planning - building a home has been a consideration for me for a couple years whereas he's not thinking at all about a new home. It all seems really expensive till you realize that you can come out ahead vs just buying off the shelf.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

for those that are building....

a crappo tear down is around 8-900k? + say another 600K for a build = 1.5M

are you guys doing it for the custom layout/quality or can you actually save money this route?

For a standard SFH (33x122) in East Van you're likely looking at $1.2M for a lot. For me, building a duplex is the only way to go - get a 40'+ wide lot and build a side by side. I don't need the 2700sf a SFH offers, something with 1700-2000sf would be a nice house for us.

[lowside67]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

for those that are building....

a crappo tear down is around 8-900k? + say another 600K for a build = 1.5M

are you guys doing it for the custom layout/quality or can you actually save money this route?

For us, we are definitely looking to build a house when we can for both of those reasons. The difference between upgrading insulation, framing, extra wiring, higher quality materials, etc is all so nominal when building a house but the difference in living in a quality house really is noticeable. We live in a generic 1980s Coquitlam house (aka built crappy AF) and when I go to my dad's newly built ICF house, the difference in air quality, the lack of drafts near windows, the better planned lighting, the solid sound dampening... all great and makes a real difference in liveability.

-Mark

[Hondaracer]

I wouldn’t be so quick to discount the costs of “better” insulation and drywall

Sound proof drywall can be triple the price of regular sheets, rocksol insulation is double the cost of pink batts, etc spray foam even more.

Then you get into windows and the more expensive materials, Jeldwen and Starline windows could be triple if not quadruple the price of some Chinese imports. Add on custom sizes or colours and all of a sudden your budget is 3-4 times what you planned without pricing it out

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

are you guys doing it for the custom layout/quality or can you actually save money this route?

Forgot to answer this - it's both for us.

For the size of house I'm looking at (about 1700-2000sf) the designs tend to be horribly compromised - the 1900sf duplex I live in has a terribly laid out kitchen (I spent $20K redoing the kitchen 2 years into owning it and it was a new build). Quality wise, the home we own is pretty shit - bad sound insulation, flaky plumbing, etc.

Cost wise it can be a big savings as well - for what I'm considering it could be as much as a $400K savings for both sides of the duplex which I'd split with my BIL or whoever else we build with.

[bcrdukes]

wow, beatdownvictim. That's a username I haven't seen in a while!

[beatdownvictim]

I cheaped out on gfi plugs near 2 of my toilets and a rain shower in my basement washroom so many ragrets. I did not cheap out on any sound insulation as my whole exterior has mineral wool on above grade exterior walls however im finding its my windows that let in the most sound.

My kids only use the washrooms with bidets now fml

My builder recommends tyko for Eastside.

When we built our house it was for a custom layout. Didnt need a basement suite or a laneway.

Good luck i miss the building process even with all the shit city inspectors came up with.

[CivicBlues]

Christ reading this thread makes me feel poor as fuck

[lowside67]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

I wouldn’t be so quick to discount the costs of “better” insulation and drywall

Sound proof drywall can be triple the price of regular sheets, rocksol insulation is double the cost of pink batts, etc spray foam even more.

Then you get into windows and the more expensive materials, Jeldwen and Starline windows could be triple if not quadruple the price of some Chinese imports. Add on custom sizes or colours and all of a sudden your budget is 3-4 times what you planned without pricing it out

Sure, but when you build the house you can make some choices. We spray foamed our crawl space when we moved in and it's been a great improvement in comfort on our main floor flooring and with the BC Hydro grants it literally cost almost nothing.

-Mark

[supafamous]

Spoke with the folks at Lanefab who I figured at the higher end of builder I'd be considering (they win a fair number of awards for their work) and they quoted around $1.1M for a 3000sf passive duplex (Passive House Duplex ? Lanefab Design/Build). For the quality of work they do and the fact that a passive house costs more to build and plan that's pretty reasonable.

I need a bigger place than 3000sf across two units so I figure a bigger place with them would run $1.4-1.5M for 4000sf.

[GLOW]

I didn't do any research on Lanefab, but if you're doing Passive House for sustainability and energy savings, please keep in mind 2 things if the builder hasn't mentioned this to you already:
you're creating a very air tight building which retains heat/energy which is great...in the summer, not so great...air tight also means the air within your building is not leaking out and stays the same...
this means you need to incorporate/consider 2 things in your home: proper ventilation for good indoor air quality (bring in outdoor fresh air & exhaust stale indoor air) and proper cooling for thermal comfort. Incorporating passive cooling strategies such as cross ventilation (windows) and shading (awnings on west/south facing windows) will help to. I'm sure your custom builder/architect will talk to all this, but it's good to know and not be looking at cost cutting thinking it's not needed.

i look at multi-unit residential buildings where these are problems, maybe not as bad in a single detached home but if you're dropping $$$ on a new home that's PH you may as well make it livable all 12 months of the year

[quasi]

If I was building I might wait just slightly, I specialize in commercial construction and I'm seeing it and everyone I've spoken to who's involved in construction different trades are seeing it, prices are heading down right now.

I've probably priced 40 projects ranging from 10K to 5 million over the past 4 months and haven't landed any of them chasing the market down and still haven't caught it yet. The tradesman and subcontractors are going to be dropping their rates to try and stay busy and with stuff going at lower rates there just isn't as much money in them. I've been through these markets a few times over the last 25 years they can get really lean, I do know one thing it's not worth doing work at a loss and I'm seeing some guys that we compete taking projects at prices way to cheap I don't even think they realize how cheap they are and won't until they are 2/3's through the job and they've spent their entire budget and still have to complete the project.

I can't see residential being any different, IMO construction prices will continue to decline into next year as contractors get desperate to get work on the books and I can't see any uptick before 2022 at the earliest and with the Covid curveball who knows that might not even be realistic because of the unknown variable. This is just my opinion, but honestly I'd be really hesitant getting quotes right now I'd wait a bit as people start to burn through the work on hand that they picked up in a better market and get slower prices will continue with the downward pressure.